International students practice English, form friendships with OASIS

Twenty minutes before OASIS Internationals’ first call-out meeting of the semester, volunteers met for the first time around a conference table in Union Street Center Monday evening.

The team had one goal for the year — getting more students involved.

Co-coordinators Tiffany Chang and Tao Liu are both second-year Psychology masters students.

The pair reached out to multiple cultural centers and living-learning communities and recruited at involvement fairs through the past few weeks in preparation for the meeting.

“We’re providing a service to international students that I and others
never got as undergraduates,” Liu said.

The Outreach and Support for International Students and Scholars is a program sponsored by the Center for Human Growth and the Office of International Services.
 
Liu said she participated in English-practice groups during her undergraduate career, but never felt like she had an opportunity to learn about other cultures or form lasting relationships from them.

“I felt like I missed a few things in my first few years in the U.S.,” Liu said. “I feel like this program is making a difference in these student’s experiences.”

As the meeting began, international students filed in, taking slices of Hot-N-Ready Pizza as volunteers introduced themselves.

The students and volunteers broke into smaller groups to focus on specific conversations on culture.

“The topic changes each week,” said Liu. “How to make U.S. friends, how to interact with professors. We talk about American holidays and fun things to do in IU and the U.S.”

Chang said the atmosphere is very casual and open.

“We let the students come up with their own ideas, and we cater our discussions to their needs,” Chang said.

Liu said she helped one student in particular deal with serious roommate problems.
Students from France, Pakistan, Germany and other countries shared the hardships and surprises they encountered during their recent move to the U.S.

“Volunteering with the group is a great way for me to gain experience of working with students of diverse backgrounds,” said Philip Himebaugh, a graduate student in counseling psychology. 

Chang said they have tried to recruit American students to attend meetings, in an effort to ease the social stresses of international students.

Hussain Ather is a freshman volunteer from Zionsville, Ind.

“I like to have a global perspective on things that I do,” Ather said. “It will help me when I study different languages and study abroad.”

Every Monday evening for the rest of the semester, international students will gather to talk about their backgrounds and experiences with studying abroad at IU.

“We’re not just giving them advice,” Chang said. “We make friendships.”

Follow reporter Matt Bloom on Twitter @matthew_bloom.